Posted on 03/23/2002 4:44:18 PM PST by Pokey78
Lawyers for John Walker Lindh, the American who fought with the Taliban, claim he was systematically brutalised and threatened with 'torture and death' after US troops seized him.
The claims come as his lawyers prepare to argue that he was a soldier of the Taliban, not an anti-US terrorist. At the centre of his defence will be his claim that the witness statement he provided to his FBI interrogators was given under duress and in the hope of ending his mistreatment.
Lindh is being tried in an ordinary court and will not face the death penalty, unlike foreign prisoners, who will be tried by ad hoc military tribunals with lesser requirements of proof and could face a firing squad if found guilty.
News of Lindh's arrest outraged America. Indicted by a federal grand jury as a terrorist, he was branded by Attorney-General John Ashcroft as 'an active, knowing participant' in the war against the US.
The defence said in court papers disclosed on Friday that Lindh was 'among Taliban' who surrendered to the Northern Alliance on 24 November. When some of the captives exploded grenades and attempted to escape, Lindh was wounded by shrapnel and a bullet.
For several hours, say the defence, he lay on the ground until fellow prisoners carried him to the basement of the Qala-e-Janghi fort. When he emerged around 1 December, he was taken into US custody and kept for about a week near Mazar-e-Sharif.
'He was held in a room in which the only window was blocked, making it difficult to discern whether it was night or day,' the lawyers said, adding that he was fed sparingly and given only minimal medical attention.
Transferred to Camp Rhino, the US base near Kandahar, 'he was blindfolded and bound with plastic cuffs so tight they cut off the circulation to his hands.
'Mr Lindh's clothes were cut off, his hands and feet were again shackled and he was bound tightly with duct tape to a stretcher. Still blindfolded and naked, he was placed in a metal shipping container.'
He remained until about 10 December when, still blindfolded and 'in a state of complete exhaustion', he was taken to a building or tent, where he was met by an FBI agent.
'When Mr Lindh asked for a lawyer, he was told there were no lawyers there,' the defence said.
They added that he talked, because 'Mr Lindh believed the only way to escape the torture was to do whatever the agent wanted'.
That happened to me, however it was during basic at Fort Jackson back in 1965 and the agents were called drill sergeants.:^)
Well they didn't do a very good job Johnnie. You are lucky it was them and not me.
Please leave the poor boy alone, he was confused and hungry.......I better stop, I think I’m starting to believe what I’m writing..
Well you know what they used to day to Moms, "If your son goes to Nam write to him. If he goes to Fort Jackson pray for him."
I went in the army with 4 buddies. They all went to Fort Jackson for AIT and BUT while I got sent to Fort Dix. At Dix you got to live in Pink Palaces with the New York elite. Of course the New York elite were slumming in Jersey at the time. It is amazing what clean living can do for you. Actually all I did was introduce a company clerk at Knox to a friend of mine... a Mr Daniels, named Jack. He got me a ticket to New Jersey.
They told me there were mosqitoes at Fort Jackson that could pull a duce and a half out of a swamp with out injuring its stinger. But I never believed it.
Stay Safe !
Cheese and Crackers !! (my way of cussing)
Let's see, the main evidence they have against him is his confession. If his lawyers can keep his confession out, he will probably walk. If his confession comes in, he fries.
Is anyone surprised that his lawyers are claiming that his confession was involuntary? I would be amazed if they didn't.
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